Distant Horizons

Thu Jun 24, 2021 7:53 am

Amon had not noticed until the last minute what Hanako was using the smoke for. It was his cover, and Amon had only seconds to get a move on. Just as she moved into to attack Amon was quick to start moving around Kuchiki to his blind side using the remnants of the smoke as cover. He only hoped it was enough. Outside of fighting maybe two or three weaker Hollows, Amon didn't have the experience to fight other Human-likes in the field, so this could prove definite in that regard.

The young Shinigami was swift and made sure his steps were quiet, that may not have stopped the Vice Captain from detecting his energy but still it was good effort. And then he waited for just a second more once he was in place. Hanako seemed eager to attack however Amon could tell the attacks were feign and didn't pose much threat. Everything was in slow motion for him, waiting and he moved for that opportunity never missing a beat of his steps. And then the opportunity presented itself.

Amon rushed forward in his best speed, his mind made up and his thoughts steeled in place. He would have gone in for a strike at Kuchiki's blindsided however at the last possible second Amon noticed the web of energy behind the man. The young warrior cursed to himself and just before his feet hit the webs he lurched forward, leaping toward Kuchiki. The strike he was going to perform was a no-go, so he adjusted to where his left shoulder was facing front and his blade drawn back for a stab. Amon was going to truck the Vice Captain and in the process possibly score a good hit... Well, maybe a slight cut. On was way out of these people's league, and he'd only hoped to help in some capacity.

Sat Jun 26, 2021 3:37 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

There was a downside to feinted attacks: they were feinted attacks. If Hanako had wanted to attack Takehiko for real, she maybe would have been able to stop him from completing his incantation. Maybe. However, if the opponent realised that the blows wouldn’t hit, no matter what he did, and reacted quickly enough…

The red glow caught her, engulfed her body and suddenly Hanako froze on the spot and in the middle of her movement.

‘Huh, so this is what a Geki feels like.’ she wondered, although this really was not the right time to take in new experiences. The paralyzation effect might be complete, but sight and hearing still worked just fine. And with it Hanako realised that Takehiko hadn’t stopped talking.

‘A double incantation!’

Even without a talent for Kido, she recognized some of the words. A Sokatsui? And she was absolutely unable to dodge it. Where was Amon? Could he help? No, he was on Takehiko’s other side. Not enough time. Besides, even Hanako herself wasn’t so sure if she could take a Hadō from a Lieutenant-class Shinigami at point blank, but Amon should definitely not take a chance with this.

All these thoughts raced through Hanako’s head within fractions of a second, and the world around her seemed to be still, for just a tiny amount of time. Then she saw, big, bulky and looming behind and above Takehiko, the shadowy shape of Bakumusha. He just stood there, staring at her from behind the mask. Of course it was just an illusion, as well as the stretched time, but it gave Hanako the motivation she needed.

With a hissing noise the air around Hanako’s body began glowing in an icy blue. Her eyes shone with an inner light of the same colour. The tall woman concentrated all of her energies, gathering it around herself until her whole silhouette glowed in a bright blue light. But only for a second. Then another light, of a more destructive nature, hit her and for a brief moment, she vanished completely in light, smoke and debris.

After a moment, the dust settled and there was Hanako, still standing. She breathed hard from the sudden burst of effort, but calmed down already. On her face was a certain amount of pain visible. Of course. She hadn’t used any techniques to shield her, simply powered up, concentrated all her might to push against the Sokatsui. But she wouldn’t let a bit of pain slow her down, but instead power through it, if needed.

Her Shihakusho was torn on the front of her chest and hanging in rags, exposing the sports bra she wore underneath. The skin on her muscular abdomen had a slight reddish colour.

“We should really define how far we will take this.” she said, her voice a bit raspy but strong.

“Because I could take it a lot farther, but it isn’t something I’d normally do in a sparring match. And because we’re among friends here, we should decide now: Is there a limit, or do we go all out? Before something happens that we might regret.”

If Takehiko and Amon had known her better they could hear from the strained tone of her voice, that she was fighting to maintain her self control. She honestly hoped that Takehiko wouldn’t choose the latter, although a very loud voice in her head screamed to pay him back for the Sokatsui. Aside from that she hadn’t planned on a sparring match at all when she came here, the only way she could gain ground against her counterpart was to release Bakumusha. And this really wasn’t something she should do against friends. Well, except Captain Kobayashi, but that was, of course, a totally different story.

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Sun Jun 27, 2021 12:39 am

It took Amon a split second to figure out that the double incantations were dispelled, however his leap over the now-missing web of power was for nothing. Amon had quickly redirected his initial attack, a leaping tackle then stab, to where he landed on one foot with the front of his body skidding awkwardly pass Kuchiki. He felt the attempt was wasted now but knew he could have made the hit... Well, the guy probably could have done one of those stereotypical bad-guy moves in the anime where he catches Amon by the throat. That didn't happen. Instead what happened was the you g Shinigami caught his footing and quickly regained balance before sheathing his Asauchi.

And then there was an apology he felt was more aimed at Hanako, which, Amon didn't take any damage at all. He exhaled some held air and approached the much stronger pair and just listened. Hanako seemed winded if not hurt taking a point blank blast like that, and she most likely toughed it out. Amon however felt guilt in the fact he didn't catch on to her smoke effect earlier until it was close to too late, and she wouldn't have had to go in for obvious feint flurry attacks. The Vice Captain wouldn't have had much time to do much for an attack had Amon taken the hint much earlier, and it made him feel useless. He'd need to apologize to Hanako after this, hell, after this he would be lucky if anyone would want him to tag along after this incident! Oh, the self doubt!

Amon nodded as he listened to Kuchiki. He was interested, his eyes wide with surprise at the ability of the Zanpacto or at least the numerous capabilities it had! Hell, he wondered if he could do his Asauchi like that, then again it isn't a pipe so chances are very low. That was later with experience. He turned to Hanako then back to Kuchiki who offered to test out the ability for the Shinigami to experience. Amon then said, "Sure! I wouldn't mind."

Mon Jun 28, 2021 4:46 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

The sudden change somewhat surprised Hanako. This visit really had turned into a rollercoaster. First talk and tea, then sparring, and now this…

“Uhm...I didn’t mean it like this...really.” Hanako said slowly. She wasn’t exactly sure how to react. If she was honest to herself, the adrenaline just had begun to really flood her system and she was feeling the rush of battle. She wouldn’t mind continuing.

“It...uhm...it wasn’t that bad. Don’t worry about it. I could have continued…”

She watched Takehiko use his Zanpakuto to heal her skin. She touched her belly with her left hand. The skin felt soft as if she had just stepped out of a hot bath. Not even a tiny bit sore.

“Amazing…” she mumbled. “But honestly...I wouldn’t have minded to continue a bit. And I guess Breach-san also.”

She looked at her fellow Fighting Fourth. She might be wrong, but she imagined that she felt a bit of lust for battle from him, too. If so, then it was good.

“ It’s just...I am not really good with kido. You may have realised, even the low-level spells with an incantation weren’t too effective. To hold myself against your Sokatsui I had to use my spiritual pressure at almost peak level for a moment. So...to have any chance against that level I probably would have to release my Bakumusha here. It can do a lot of damage in it’s Shikai form...something I usually prefer not to use against friends. That’s why I asked how far we want to go. But I would have been perfectly fine to continue.”

She now felt the calming effect of the green vapour from Takehiko’s Zanpakuto on her mood. When she realised that she had calmed down and the thrill of the moment was gone she sighed and sheathed Bakumusha again. She imagined feeling a tiny vibration from the blade, as if it had also sighed. Incredibly enough, she didn’t feel disappointed.

When Takehiko suggested that he could demonstrate some of Kodomaru’s other abilities Hanako hesitated. Manipulating the sense of touch...it reminded her too much of an episode not too long ago she would like to forget. But as much as she struggled to remember her past, she couldn’t erase the memories of the illusions she witnessed that day. Incredibly real illusions.
Amon accepted the offer without much thought and Hanako had to give him credit for it. She nodded him her recognition.

“I am not sure. It is...like an illusion or something?” she asked and the scepticism could be heard easily in her voice.
“If so, then I have made some similar experiences in the past and would like to sit this one out.”

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]

Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:24 pm

For someone so steadfast yet laid-back, Amon hesitated for a moment. For that two seconds he didn't know why he didn't just go after the smoke, snort it up like a line of coke. The Jokes aside from Amon, he went ahead and took of whiff of the red smoke. It was... Odd, just a summer in the Texas heat when he's been out there for far too long. It wasn't weird in the fact it felt familiar, but the effects that took place.

The Shinigami could feel the humidity, the blaring heat, and somewhere a mixture of humility. Amon then felt a tinge in his right arm, almost a painful stinging that grew but he shown no signs of pain. It wasn't anything spectacular, and then flashes of memory popped in his head. There were things he witnessed growing up he didn't want to, but the same images appeared there, distracting him... And it clicked to Amon. Why didn't the Vice Captain use this? Because he said he wouldn't use the Zanpacto. It would have ultimately changed the way things played out.

After the minute passed the effects slowly wore off. Amon was not too certain if the power of the red smoke was supposed to fade this slowly, then again, it was no different than ingesting another fume. When the effects fully wore off Amon looked to Kuchiki, "That was... Trippy. I can see how that Zanpacto can affect a battle. So all Zanpactos become different like that, yeah? Have you ever seen one that's not a sword?"

Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:43 am

The Big Woman

Hanako Yamada

When Takehiko released the red smoke Hanako hesitated and finally took a step backward. But the moment of hesitation had been enough that some of the smoke wafted over to her. Planned or not, she inhaled something, only a tiny amount, without realising. At first.

After a few seconds of watching Amon Hanako suddenly realised she had a strange smell in her nose. It was eerily familiar, a bit metallic…
She thought about all the memories she surely as hell didn’t want to relieve, especially not with her sense of touch. She had experienced illusions of that kind, an experience she didn’t wish to repeat.
What was this smell?

And then suddenly she knew. It was the smell of blood. Her blood. And she knew where it came from. She felt where it came from. The mind-numbing pain, in which everything else drowned out. On that special night, when she had walked miles and miles, only half-conscious from pain and blood loss, kept on her feet by a power she would only realise years later. The night she lost her arm.

Slowly Hanako turned her head to the side and down, convinced she would see her right arm torn to shreds yet again. It felt like it was. But there was nothing. Only a small trickle of blood, seeping out from the faint scar, where artificial skin met original skin. And then even that trickle was gone. Gone in a few seconds. She looked up to Amon. He seemed still inside his illusion. She must have inhaled some of the smoke herself, probably only a very small dosage, what was why she came around sooner. Or the shock ended the illusion sooner. Whatever.
Carefully she moved her arm. There was no pain. Everything was as it should, the prosthesis behaving just like a normal arm would.

Although a feeling of relief was washing through Hanako, if any of the other two looked at her in this moment, they would see her tense, the face pale, her right arm pressed to her body and the left hand gripping the sheath of her sword so tight the knuckles became white. Yet she did not make any sound or move an inch.

After a few seconds she relaxed as the last remnants of the illusion faded away. Meanwhile Amon, too, had come out of it.

"It depends..." she began answering his question, but had to clear her throat first. She had studied up a lot about Zanpakutos since she finally began hearing her own's voice.
"It depends if you mean a sealed or a released Zanpakuto." she began again. Her voice was now firm and clear again. This explaining helped to distract her from what she just had felt. If at all possible she didn't want the others to know...

"Sealed Zanpakutos are normally swords. There are some extremes, where they take exotic forms or the owners disguise them as something different, but the majority of them take the shape of some form of sword. Released Zanpakutos are a whole different story. They can take any size or shape, that hasn't necessarily anything to do with their sealed form. The shape of my Shikai, for example, is relatively close to a sword, albeit a strange one to most. But take Kuchiki-san's Shikai, for example. It has nothing much to do with swords anymore. It depends on the Shinigami, and the powers of said Shinigami, what form his releases take. Almost impossible to predict what it will be. I would have never guessed that mi Shikai would be something more or less plant-themed. I couldn't even begin to think what shape my Bankai would be, should I ever achieve it."

Coding Altered From: [The Frost]